Flap wheel



I Dec. 22, 1970 H. J. MCALEER FLAP. WHEEL INVENTOR. //0zaf IM'/@efUnited States Patent O 3,548,550 FLAP WHEEL Howard J. McAleer, Detroit,Mich., assignor to Formax Manufacturing Company, Detroit, Mich., acorporation Filed May 23, 1968i, Ser. No. 731,443 Int. Cl. B241) 9/02U.S. Cl. 51-334 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A flap wheel havinga plurality of circumferentially disposed abrasive flaps with some ofthe flaps being of one grit size and others of a substantially differentgrit size.

BACKGROUND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates toflap wheels and more particularly to flap wheels utilizing abrasiveflaps.

Heretofore it has been conventional practice in preparation to plating asteel member to finish the steel member by subjecting it to a pluralityof metal removal and finishing operations. The first operation forexample, could be finishing the metal on an abrasive fiap wheel in whichthe aps are cloth or paper-backed coarse abrasive such as 120 grit.While this operation provides substantial stock removal, the finish iscoarse and would not be suitable for electroplating. Following the 120grit operation, the steel member is then finished in a second step by awheel having flaps with abrasive of 180 grit size. Next a 220 grit fiapwheel is used. Finally, if necessary, a buiiing operation is performedwith a cloth or sisal bufng wheel. -In a prior patent to Jeske No.3,099,113, issued July 30, 1963, a combination cloth and abrasive fiapwheel was shown which wheel tended to provide for a combined abradingand buffing action. However, with the wheel constructed in accordancewith the Jeske patent if a coarse abrasive, i.e., 120 grit, was used incombination with the cloth, good cutting action would result but thefinish would not be adequate for plating purposes. On the other hand, ifa finer grit were utilized in combination with the cloth, an adequatefinish would result, but the cutting would not be aggressive; hence, itwas found that while wheels constructed in accordance with the Jeskepatent could possibly replace two finishing steps, as a practicalmatter, two or more additional finishing operations were required priorto plating. In the present invention it has been found that byconstructing a fiap wheel to have abrasive flaps with different onesvarying in grit size from coarse to fine, a substantial improvementisrealized in that a cutting action can be obtained which is similar tothat of a wheel comprised solely of the coarse grit while the finalfinish of the product closely approaches the finish obtained with awheel solely of the finest grit. As a result, it has been found in fact,that in many applications only a single finishing operation is requiredto prepare the workpiece for plating.

In a wheel of the above described type it has been found advantageous toalso include cloth or sisal fiaps which further tend to improve theoperating characteristics of the wheel, i.e., cutting action and finalfinish.

It has further been found advantageous to treat the cloth or sisal apsby coating these flaps with a resinous type solution. This helps to holdthe sisal together preventing it from fraying and also apparently actsas a lubricant; in addition the coating helps the cloth or sisal flapsto retain bufiing compound which, when applied to the wheel, furtherenhances its finishing action.

It has also been found advantageous in wheels of the above describedtype to coat not only the cloth or sisal but also the abrasive fiaps.This also provides for improved operating characteristics.

3,548,550 Patented Dec. 22, 1970 lCe Therefore, it is an object of thepresent invention to provide a new and improved flap wheel construction.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new andimproved flap wheel utilizing abrasive aps varying in grit from coarseto fine for providing a wheel which is aggressive in cutting and yetresults in a fine finish.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a flap wheel of theabove described type utilizing abrasive flaps varying in grit size fromcoarse to fine in combination with cloth or sisal flaps.

Therefore, it is another object of the present invention to provide awheel of the above described type utilizing cloth or sisal flaps whichare coated with a resinous solution.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the subsequent description and the appended claims,taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. l is an end elevational view of a flap wheel embodying one form ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view to increased scale taken generally along theline 2-2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional View taken generally along the line 33 in FIG. 2; K

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 3 depicting a modified formof the fiap wheel;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary View similar to the view of FIGS. 3 and 4,depicting another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 depicting another embodiment of thepresent invention.

Looking now to FIGS. 1 through 3, a flap wheel 10 includes a hubassembly 12 which generally comprises a pair of mounting flanges 14 and16 which are notched as at 18 and 20, respectively, to receive aplurality of complementarly notched flap members 22a, 22b and 22C whichare circumferentially disposed about the hub assembly 12. The flapmembers 22a-22con the Wheel 10 are all cloth or paper-backed abrasive.The flaps 22a, in one form of the invention, are of a coarse abrasivehaving a grit size. The flaps 22h are of a medium abrasive having a gritsize. The flaps 22e are of a finer abrasive having a grit size.Pluralities of the flaps 22a are located in equally circumferentiallyspaced sections 24a; pluralities of flaps 22b are located in equallyspaced sections 24b; while pluralities of iiaps 22e are located inequally spaced sections 24e. An equal disposition of the various flaps22a-22e is made circumferentially around the wheel 12 in order toprovide for good wheel balance. With the wheel 10 constructed as shownand described, a good cutting action results which is nearly equivalentto a flap wheel constructed of abrasive flaps which are solely of 120grit. The finish, however, on the workpiece is the equivalent of a piecefinished on a wheel comprised solely of fiaps of 150 grit. In othercombinations, the same beneficial results have been noted. For example,with a Wheel similar to that shown in FIG. l utilizing sections of 150,'180 and 220 grit flaps, the finish was the equivalent of that obtainedwith the wheel constructed of approximately 200 grit abrasive. Also,more variations could be used, for example, in the Wheel shown anddescribed in FIGS. l to 3, a fourth, coarse grit size, i.e., 8O gritcould be vused to provide a more aggressive cutting action with thefinish still being proximate to that of a 150 grit wheel. In theembodiments shown in FIGS. 1 through 3, the sections 24a-24c are each30. Larger or smaller sections could be utilized as long as the balanceof the Wheel is maintained. While beneficial results could be obtainedwith a wheel-using only two grit sizes, it is preferred that at leastthree substantially different grit sizes be used; it is preferred thatthe difference in grit size be at least around 30 between the variousgrits. Note that the abrasive fiaps can be constructed from conventionalcloth or paperbacked abrasives.

A further improvement was found upon the addition of a number of clothfiaps. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 components similar to likecomponents in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3 have been given the samenumber designation with the addition of a prime. Thus in FIG. 4, sisalfiaps 30 are located between adjacent sections 24a', 24b and 24C' ofabrasive fiaps.

In order to improve the life and operating characteristics of the clothor sisal fiap 30, it has been found advantageous to coat and/orimpregnate the fiap with a resious material which is effective to bondthe fibers together achieving a unity of action of the fibers during afinishing operation. The coating protects the sisal from fraying wherebythe fibers act in unison providing for improved life and improvedsurface finishing. A typical coated fiap 30 is illustrated in FIG. 5.VThe resinous coating also is believed to act as a lubricant effecting afurther improvement in the bufling action and finish obtained.

The resinous coating material with which the fiap 30" can be coatedand/or impregnated, may comprise any resinous-like material either inmonomeric or polymeric form which, when applied to the fiap, iseffective to adhere the sisal fibers together. Any one of the variety ofnaturally occurring and synthetic resinous-like materials can beemployed for this purpose which are of high strength so as to maintaingood adherence of the fibers to each other as well as to resist fiaking,fracture, or dislodgment from the fiaps during the finishing operation.Typical of naturally occurring resinous materials suitable for thispurpose are pine wood rosin, sodium and potassium rosinates, bodiedlinseed oil and castor oil, animal hide glue, sodium caseinate, gumrubber, bituminouslike materials and the like. Typical of the syntheticmaterials are thermoplastic and thermosetting resins which, ifnecessary, include plasticizers to maintain flexibility of the resins atthe temperatures encountered during the finishing or bufiing operationpreventing a fiaking thereof from the fiap. Synthetic resins of thistype include alkyd resins, polyvinyl alcohol resins, plasticizedpolyvinyl chloride resins, plasticized epoxides, polyester resins suchas Paraplex AL 16C, modified rosins such as pentaerythritol esters ofrosin such as Pentalyn A, pentaerythritol esters of polymerized rosinsuch as Pentalyn C, pentaerythritol of hydrogenated rosin such asPentalyn H, pentaerythritol esters of dimeric rosin acids such asPentalyn K, phenolic modified pentaerythritol esters of rosin such asPentalyn 833; rosin derived alkyd-type resin such as Neolyn; terpenepolybasic acid, plasticized acrylic resins including acrylates andmethacryaltes such as polymethylmethacrylate, for example; and the like.The foregoing materials can be applied to the fiap by any one of avariety of techniques well known in the art, such as dipping, spraying,fiooding, roll coating, etc. and can be applied in liquid form employinga heat softened liquid or Solution incorporating a volatile solvent soas to achieve penetration of and a bonding of the sisal fibers of thefiap together and forming a residuary coating on the exterior thereof.Also the coating is of a type such that it will hold bufling compound.The wheel 10" with the addition of bufiing compound further enhances thebufhng action resulting in a finer micro finish.

It has been found that a still further improvement iS realized if allthe fiaps, abrasive 22am-cl and buff 30"', are coated with the resinoussolution (see FIG. 6); with such a coated structure, the aggressivenessof the cutting action is slightly impaired, however, coarser abrasivefiaps can be used to increase the cutting action. The coating improvesthe final finish of the stock and also substantially increases the lifeof the wheel 10"'. In the embodiments of FIGS. 5 and 6` componentssimilar to like components in previously described embodiments have beengiven the same number designation with the addition of a double primefor FIG. 5 and a triple prime for FIG. 6.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiments of theinvention disclosed are well calculated to fulfill the objects abovestated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible tomodification, variation and change without departing from the properscope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A fiap wheel comprising: a hub, a first plurality of abrasive fiapscircumferentially disposed about said hub, a second plurality ofabrasive fiaps circumferentially disposed about said hub, each of saidfirst plurality of fiaps utilizing an abrasive of one grit size, each ofsaid second plurality of fiaps utilizing an abrasive of a second gritsize substantially different in size from said one grit size, theabrasive faces on said first and second plurality of fiaps facing thesame direction circumferentially.

2. The fiap wheel of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of buffingfiaps.

3. The fiap wheel of claim 1 comprising pluralities of abrasive fiaps ofat least three substantially different grit sizes.

4. The fiap wheel of claim 3 with said grit sizes including a coarse, amedium and a fine grit.

5. The fiap wheel of claim 2 with said bufiing fiaps being made of afibrous material and being coated with a resin.

6. The fiap wheel of claim 5 including rubbing cornpound on said flaps.

7. The fiap wheel of claim 5 comprising pluralities of abrasive flaps ofat least three substantially different grit sizes.

8. The fiap wheel of claim 7 with said abrasive fiaps being coated witha resin.

9. The fiap wheel of claim 8 including rubbing cornpound on said fiaps.

10. The fiap wheel of claim 1 with said abrasive fiaps being coated witha resin.

11. The fiap wheel of claim 1 with said first and said second grit sizesvarying from each other by at least 30 grit in size.

12. The fiap wheel of claim 1 with said fiaps of each said first andsaid second pluralities being located in a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced sections.

13. The fiap wheel of claim 1 with said sections being equallycircumferentially spaced from each other.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,188,777 6/1965 Block 51-337OTHELL M. SIMPSON, Primary Examiner

